


Super Dogs

by wanderingaroundyoutube



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-08 13:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12865344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingaroundyoutube/pseuds/wanderingaroundyoutube
Summary: Random snippets of the Danvers Sisters and their dogs.





	1. Gertrude

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how often I'll update this, but I do have several chapters drafted and a few other ideas for chapters.

Between work and moving into a larger apartment, it was several weeks after getting back from their honeymoon before Alex and Maggie's lives slowed back down enough for them to open all the wedding presents they'd received. 

They did this all at once on a Saturday, unwrapping all of the wrapped gifts first, then opening the cards. They were halfway through the cards when Alex happened to grab the one from Maggie's old mentor from the police academy. 

Alex opened the card, read it, then turned immediately to her wife.  

"Maggie?" 

Maggie looked up to find Alex looking very confused. She took the offered card and glanced down at it. She read the little post-script under the usual congratulations out loud.  

"Call me when you're ready to pick up your present - Davidson" Maggie tilted her head then suddenly broke into a huge grin and reached for her phone. 

"What," Alex asked. 

Maggie just grinned at her as she dialed then put the phone to her ear. "Davidson. It's Sawyer. Yeah good. We just opened your card. Yes absolutely, when are you free? Right now? Ok great. See you in twenty." 

Maggie hung up the phone and nearly jumped up from the couch. "Grab your coat." 

"Where are we going?" 

"To get our present. I'll explain on the way. It's just a short walk. Come on!" Maggie pulled Alex up from the couch and rushed to the door, looking like a kid on Christmas morning. 

Maggie refused to say a word until they were walking quickly down the sidewalk towards the station, which was conveniently only a few blocks away. 

"So.." Maggie finally started, "you know that Davidson helped train me back when I was at the police academy. Well, a little over a year ago he half retired and started working in a different part of the academy part time. He called me a few days before our wedding to make sure his gift idea was ok..." 

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Ok?"  

When Maggie didn't continue Alex asked, "What is it that he couldn't just wrap it?" 

Maggie bounced with excitement. "I'm getting to that. So, he wanted to retire from teaching trainees, but everyone liked him so much that they asked him to stay on training a different kind of trainee." 

Alex tugged on Maggie's arm and whined, "Maggie..." 

Maggie finally paused just outside the door of the building they'd been walking to. 

"He helps train K-9 dogs now. He called a few weeks ago because they had one flunk out of training and he wanted to know if we'd like to adopt her." 

Alex gaped at Maggie. "What? Maggie, are you serious right now?" 

Maggie smiled at her wife's obvious excitement. She nodded. 

Alex leapt forward, pulling Maggie into a hug then lifting her off of the ground. Maggie yelped in surprise at the same time Alex shrieked with excitement. 

"So?" Maggie asked when Alex put her down. "Do you want to meet her?" 

"Yes yes yes!" Alex pulled open the door and gestured for Maggie to lead the way. 

"Sawyer!" A voice called as they entered the building.  

"Davidson!" Maggie greeted, walking up to the tall, grey haired man and shaking his hand. "Thanks for doing this today." 

"It's no problem," he answered. "I was already here. You must be Alex." He offered his hand to Alex and she shook it. "You two ready to meet your kid?" 

Both Alex and Maggie laughed out loud as Davidson led the way down a hallway and into a gymnasium. As they walked in they saw half a dozen officers working with the same number of dogs. They were currently all sitting as the officers took small steps away from them, telling them to stay. 

Almost as soon as they entered the room, the dog on the far right perked up and twitched her tail. The trainer let out a low warning, then glanced over his shoulder at them. When Davidson nodded at the man, he gave another command and the dog took off towards them. 

Alex knelt down to meet her as she skidded to a halt practically in Alex's lap. The dog barked happily as Maggie reached down to pet her. 

"Maggie, Alex," Davidson said officially, "meet your seven month old daughter, Gertrude." 

Both women immediately froze and looked at one another. Alex broke first and fell backwards onto her back laughing. Gertrude immediately took the opening to jump on top of Alex and lick her face. Maggie groaned dramatically and put her head in her hands. 

"What?" Davidson asked, completely lost. 


	2. Interlude - Gertrude

Gertrude, they learn, did not flunk out of K-9 training because of an inability to learn commands, but because she was too social and friendly. Upon this discovery, both Alex and Maggie start mental lists of the tricks they want to teach Gertrude.

Maggie teaches Gertrude to play dead when she points a finger gun at her and says "BANG." It's a lot of fun until the first time she shows the Superfriends at game night and Kara starts crying. This trick is banned from Kara's presence. 

Maggie also teaches Gertrude to howl along with the smoke alarm every time Alex sets it off while attempting to cook. Alex is not amused by this. The rest of the Superfriends, however, think it's great and sometimes join in on the howling. 

Alex teaches Gertrude to growl at Winn any time he attempts to pet her. Gertrude soon makes this a game of her own. She will walk up to Winn with her tail wagging and stick her nose under his arm to try to get his attention. When he moves to pet her head, she growls at him, then immediately goes back to wagging her tail and smiling when he retracts his hand. Both Alex and Maggie find this endlessly hilarious. Kara just rolls her eyes. Winn has declared that he will un-teach Gertrude this trick if it is the last thing he does. 

James makes it his mission to teach Gertrude as many photogenic poses as he can. He gives Alex and Maggie a photo book for Christmas full of pictures of her in adorable poses and wearing hilarious costumes. 

Though the police department determined Gertrude wasn’t right for official police dog work, she proves to have many other valuable talents. The most prominent of which seems to be an uncanny knack for sensing emotions. 

Gertrude seems to understand right away that Lena is not a dog person. She never approaches Lena first, letting the CEO come to her, until Lena is comfortable enough around her. On game nights when Lena has had a stressful day, Gertrude always tries to sit next to Lena and rest her head on Lena's knee. 

On nights when Alex or Maggie are out all night on an op, Gertrude sneaks up onto the bed with the one who is left at home, snuggling with her until the other part of their family is home safe. 

She does the same for Kara. Alex and Maggie have both come home more than once to find that Kara had come to visit Gertrude because she was feeling sad or anxious. Sometimes they find Kara and Gertrude curled up asleep on the couch together. Other times they walk in to find Kara on the kitchen floor, laughing wildly as Gertrude licks her face. It's on one of the former evenings, when Alex and Maggie searched the city for hours for Kara after a child was killed despite her best efforts, that Maggie whispers a question to Alex. Kara's Earth Birthday is coming up after all. What if they got Kara a dog of her own? 


	3. Krypto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Kara got a dog of her own

Maggie was walking Gertrude one rainy day three days before Kara’s Earth Birthday when suddenly Gertrude jerked her leash and dragged Maggie into the alley behind the apartment building.

“Gertie?” Maggie yelled. “Gertrude, no! Stop! Gertr-” She stopped short when Gertrude dropped to the ground and Maggie saw what Gertrude had dragged her to find.

A tiny puppy was cowering behind a dumpster, covered in mud and shaking from the rain.

“Oh,” Maggie gasped. She lowered her voice. “Good girl, Gertrude. Good girl.” 

She knelt down and reached a hand out slowly toward the puppy. “Hello there.”

The puppy yelped and scooted further back behind the dumpster away from her hand. Maggie sighed then looked at Gertrude, who was looking between her and the puppy.

“Gertie…” Maggie tried to think of the right command. “Gertie fetch? Be nice, but can you help me get him out of there? Fetch?”

Gertrude immediately started moving slowly towards the puppy, her tail wagging. She nudged him with her nose and he pawed at her. She licked his head then, still moving slowly, squeezed around behind him so she could start to nudge him towards Maggie. 

Maggie took off her rain jacket as she watched Gertrude slowly nudge the puppy out from behind the dumpster and towards her. When he was close enough and distracted for a moment by Gertrude licking him again, Maggie reached down and scooped him up into her jacket. The puppy yelped in surprise but thankfully didn’t squirm too much in her arms. 

“Good girl, Gertrude!” Maggie praised as Gertrude returned to her side so Maggie could grab her leash again.

“Let’s get this little one inside and get him cleaned up, huh?” She cooed at the puppy in her arms as they walked around towards the front of the building. 

“It’s OK, little man. I’ve got you. We’ll get you cleaned up and nice and warm, alright? Yeah. And maybe get some food in you too. It’s alright. You’re safe now.”

 

Alex was just finishing folding the last of the laundry when Maggie opened the door. 

“Why aren’t you wearing your jacket? Isn’t it raining?” Alex asked casually.

Maggie shrugged as she kicked off her shoes, then turned to show Alex the bundle in her arms. “I was wearing it, but then Gertrude found this little guy, and I figured he needed it more than I did.”

“Oh my god!” Alex exclaimed and rushed forward. She reached out a hand toward the puppy in Maggie's arms but pulled it back again almost immediately. “Maggie, he’s shaking.”

Maggie nodded. “Gertie found him shivering in the rain out behind the dumpster. He doesn’t have a collar. I’m going to give him a bath and get him warmed up. Can you call the vet and see if we can bring him in? They can check for an ID chip and make sure he’s not sick or anything. He’s a little bit skinny. I think he has probably been eating whatever garbage he could scavenge, which likely isn't much. Who knows how long he has been on his own.”

“Absolutely,” Alex replied and waved Maggie towards the bathroom before reaching down to where Gertrude was standing patiently for her leash to be taken off. “Good girl, Gertrude. You did a great job finding him.”

Alex unclipped the leash and Gertrude immediately followed Maggie into the bathroom. Alex smiled after her then reached for the phone.

 

Two days later the final test results had come back confirming that the puppy was completely healthy, if a bit malnourished. The vet had guessed that he was about twelve weeks old, and he appeared to be a Golden or Yellow Labrador Retriever or perhaps a mix.

Immediately after receiving the all clear from the vet, Alex had texted Kara to see if she wanted to come over for dinner. They had somehow managed to keep the puppy a secret from the blonde but now they were ready to reveal him to her as her Earth Birthday present.

Alex tried to tie a little bow around the puppies collar while Maggie made dinner, but he kept trying to bite it off so she finally gave up and poured herself a glass of wine. The puppy chased Gertrude around the living room until he tired himself out and fell asleep curled up next to his adopted big sister in her doggie bed.

Kara landed on the balcony and let herself in just as Maggie was pulling the lasagna out of the oven.

“Hey, Alex. Hey, Maggie. That smells delicious!”

Kara hugged both women then looked around for Gertrude, who usually met her at the balcony door whenever she arrived. She gasped when she saw Gertrude watching her from her bed, but unwilling to move because of the puppy asleep and snuggled up next to her. Kara clutched her hands to her chest and whispered “Oh my gosh! Where…. How… oh my gosh”

“Let him sleep,” Maggie commanded. “Let’s eat first.”

“Or not,” Alex replied, as the puppy stretched and woke.

Kara immediately moved towards the bed to say hello to both him and Gertrude. Kara dropped to her knees on the carpet as the puppy tumbled out of the dog bed and cautiously wobbled his way towards her. About halfway to her he decided she was trustworthy and bounded into her lap. 

Alex and Maggie exchanged a grin before following Kara into the living room. They sat together on the couch and Gertrude, comfortable that the puppy was safe with Kara, walked over and rested her head on Maggie’s knee. 

“Maggie found him a few days ago,” Alex started to explain.

Maggie quickly corrected her. “Gertrude found him actually. I just helped.” She looked down fondly at Gertrude, who looked expectantly up at her. Maggie obligingly began petting her head and scratching behind her ears. 

“He was lost and alone,” Alex continued. “The vet confirmed this afternoon that the last of the tests came back clean. He’s perfectly healthy.”

Kara looked up at them from where she sat cross legged on the floor, the puppy sitting in her lap and gnawing on her finger. “What’s his name?”

Maggie smiled. “He doesn’t have one yet. His new owner will have to name him.”

Kara immediately pouted. “You’re not going to keep him? But he’s so cute!” She lifted her hands to wave them around her head but the puppy barked indignantly at having his new chew toy taken away so she lowered them back to her lap. 

“Well actually,” Alex started, “We were kind of hoping… I mean, we’d been talking anyway about what to get you for your Earth Birthday this year…”

Kara’s mouth fell open and her eyes filled with tears. “He’s for me?”

“If you want him, Little Danvers,” Maggie replied.

“Of course I want him!” Kara’s excited, emotional shout startled the puppy and he fell out of her lap with a yelp. Before Kara could be too concerned for his well-being though he had righted himself and jumped back into her lap. 

The puppy put his front paws up on her chest and sniffed her. Kara very carefully picked him up and nuzzled her nose into his fur then tried to kiss his nose. The puppy countered with a bite to her nose. Kara laughed. 

“I think his name is Krypto.”

“A very good name,” Maggie replied with a smile.

Alex shrugged, “I mean it’s no ‘Gertrude’, but I guess it’ll do.”

Kara put the puppy down, stood, and pulled both Alex and Maggie into a slightly too tight hug.

“I love him. Thank you so much.” 

“Happy Earth Birthday, Kara,” Alex replied as she hugged back.

Maggie waited until Kara released them both before adding, “Yeah, Happy Earth Birthday, Little D.”

Kara took one more look between the women and the puppy before exclaiming, “You are the best sisters ever!”

Gertrude replied to this with a loud huff, which made all three women laugh. 

Alex knelt down and opened her arms for Gertrude. “Oh, we love you too, you big baby. C’mere.”

Gertrude wagged her tail and instead of walking into the offered hug, pounced on Alex, knocking her over. 

“Traitor!” Alex mock yelled as she was knocked to the ground.

Kara laughed as she wiped away the last of her tears. Maggie just shook her head. “Alright you two. Playtime is over. Time for dinner.”

At that Kara zoomed to her seat at the table and Gertrude jumped off of Alex and walked over to sit next to Kara’s chair, where she knew occasional scraps would be snuck to her, even though Kara always vehemently denied ever doing so.

The newly named Krypto followed curiosity and settled under Kara's chair opposite of Gertrude. Not knowing yet that real food would be on offer shortly though, he decided to chew on the laces of Kara's shoes. 

Alex stood, smiling, and kissed Maggie on the cheek before leading her wife to their own seats. 


	4. Interlude - Krypto

Krypto is not nearly as well behaved as Gertrude, but he does remarkably well for never having six months of police academy level training. Kara is a surprisingly good teacher (teaching him basic commands in English and a few fancy tricks with Kryptonese commands), and Gertrude is a very good influence on him when they have play dates, which is often.

Krypto is fearless when playing with Gertrude or other dogs at the dog park, but he is terrified of fireworks. He whines and cries and hides under Kara’s bed the first time he hears them. She realizes immediately what is wrong, having been afraid of the loud sounds herself when she first came to Earth and couldn’t control her powers. She  climbs under her bed next to him to comfort him. She covers his ears as best as she can with a blanket and her hands, and the next morning asks Winn to make something that will help. Winn comes up with a very stylish and effective pair of noise canceling doggie earmuffs. Krypto hates them at first, but learns to love them. Kara hangs them on a hook over his doggie bed so that he can ask for them if something is too loud but Kara doesn’t realize.

Winn also takes the opportunity to make both Gertrude and Krypto custom collars. Each one has the dog’s name embroidered on it, along with symbols representing its owners. Gertrude’s has little embroidered pistols. Krypto’s has little House of El crests. The collars also have GPS trackers. Alex and J’onn cut Winn off before he can spend DEO funds to also make the collars deploy dog sized kevlar vests and/or flotation devices when the collars sense the dogs were in danger.


	5. Gertrude Goes Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to the woods is fun until it isn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is slightly off topic but I hope you all enjoy it regardless.

“I can’t believe you talked me into going  _ camping.” _

“Oh, come on, Danvers. You agreed to go. No take backs. Stop whining and help me load the car.”

Alex huffed once more and grabbed the other end of the cooler, helping Maggie lift it into the back of the SUV they’d borrowed from the DEO. 

“OK, I think that’s everything.” Maggie surveyed the back of the SUV, which was packed with the tent, food, clothing, and all the other gear they might need over the week they were spending in the foothills three hours north of National City. 

“All I’m saying,” Alex complained as she reached up to pull the hatch closed, “is that it was a very dirty trick to ask me about camping while I was… distracted.”

“It’s not my fault I look so good in jeans, Danvers. Or that you have a dirty mind.”

Alex glanced down, then slid forward and wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist. “You  _ do  _ look good in jeans. Really good.”

Maggie giggled. “You’re going to make us late, Danvers.”

“I don’t care.” 

Alex pulled Maggie into a kiss, but before they could get lost in it a bark came from behind them. They pulled apart, laughing. Gertrude was staring at them expectantly, her tail wagging, from where she was sitting on the sidewalk.

“Alright, Gertie. Come on. Let’s go.” Maggie pulled the back door open and pointed. Gertrude immediately jumped into the back of the SUV and settled onto a towel Alex had spread over the floor.

“I can’t believe you call our daughter Gertie,” Alex snarked as she got into the passenger seat.

“What? It’s her name,” Maggie snarked back.

Both women put their seatbelts on. Maggie started the car, checked the mirrors, and pulled out into the street.

“Let the great Danvers Camping Adventure begin!”

“Here we are,” Maggie announced as she pulled the car into their assigned campsite, threw the car into park, and turned off the ignition.    
  
“It’s very… woodsy.”   
  
Maggie just rolled her eyes and opened her door. “Come on, you. First things first. It’s going to be dark soon. We should get the tent up. ”   
  
Gertrude whined from the backseat.   
  
“Yes, Gertrude. And let you out.”   
  
Once Gertrude was hooked up to her long line, which they tied to a nearby tree, Alex and Maggie set to putting up the tent.   
  
“Ok,” Alex said, holding up the directions. “So… we put the poles in first? Or… no wait. We stake it down first.” She flipped the paper upside down. “I think this is in Russian.”   
  
“I thought you spoke Russian,” Maggie teased from where she was doing all the work, spreading the canvas out and laying the poles strategically on the ground around it based on where they went inside.   
  
“Speak is not the same as read. And I think this is a really obscure dialect.” Alex scrunched her face up adorably and Maggie laughed.   
  
“Alright, if you’re not going to help me put up the tent you can go gather wood for a fire.”   
  
Alex shrugged. “Ok.”   
  
She tossed the papers back into the bag the tent had come in and began wandering around the edges of the campsite gathering sticks and logs. Gertrude immediately perked up when she saw Alex with an armful of sticks. She sat up quickly and began waggling her tail.   
  
“No, Gertrude. These aren’t for you,” Alex scolded as she dropped her first armful next to the fire pit.   
  
Gertrude whined and laid down with her head between her front paws. Her eyes followed Alex back and forth as she gathered more sticks. Alex pointedly ignored her, until she returned to the pit with her third load and Gertrude let out a longer, more sorrowful whine ending in a low howl.   
  
“Oh my gosh, you are such a baby sometimes,” Alex laughed fondly. She grabbed one of the longer branches she had brought back and snapped it over her knee, tossing one of the pieces to Gertrude. Gertrude immediately jumped forward and grabbed it and began chewing happily on the stick.   
  
“You’re such a sucker, Danvers,” Maggie called from behind her.   
  
Alex turned to find Maggie putting the finishing touches on the tent.   
  
“I can’t help it. She’s so cute!”   
  
As if to prove Alex’s point, Gertrude accidentally knocked the stick out of her own paws, then crawled along the ground swatting at it to try to get it back. Alex pointed at her.   
  
“See? How am I supposed to say no to that?”   
  
Maggie sighed dramatically as she walked around the car to pull out their sleeping bags and one duffle full of clothes. “I guess I’m destined to always be the bad cop.”   
  
Alex immediately smirked and she glanced around, ensuring no one from other campsites was walking nearby. “Oh, I didn’t know bad cop Maggie Sawyer was coming on this camping trip. If you had told me that I would have agreed to come right away.”   
  
Maggie laughed out loud and tossed the bags into the tent. “Oh my god, I married such a horndog.” 

Alex made a face. “Gross, Maggie.”

“Ok, bad word choice. But you have to admit that you do have an extremely dirty mind.”

“Well yes. But can you blame me?” 

Maggie noticed Alex’s head tilt in just that way as the agent continued looking at her and shook her head. “Get your head out of the gutter, Danvers. No hanky panky in the woods.”   
  
Alex’s mouth dropped open. “What, None? Like… at all?”    
  
Maggie walked up to her wife and tapped on her chin for her to close her mouth. “Relax Alex. I’m kidding. I doubt you’ll find sleeping on the ground sexy, but if by some miracle you do, I won’t kick you out of my sleeping bag.” Maggie pulled Alex in for a quick kiss before whispering, “but I left my uniform at home so you’re out of luck there.”   
  
Alex blushed. “I was kidding about that.”   
  
Maggie slapped Alex on the butt playfully before walking away. “Sure you were. Now start that fire so we can get dinner cooking.”

 

Alex was proud that she was able to get the fire started with only three matches and no lighter fluid at all. Soon enough they were sitting in their canvas chairs, roasting hot dogs on sticks over the flames. There was a small folding table in front of them with paper plates, buns, condiments, chips, and a small container of pasta salad. 

Maggie passed her stick to Alex for a moment so she could pop open the cooler. 

“What do you want to drink, babe?”

“Remind me what we brought again?”

Maggie dug around through the ice. “Beer, root beer, ginger ale, and water.”

“Uh, ginger ale I guess.”

Maggie grabbed a can of ginger ale for Alex and a bottle of root beer for herself before snapping the cooler closed. She handed the can to Alex, who passed her back her stick. 

“I think they’re ready,” Alex observed, nodding to the hot dogs. 

“I think you’re right.” 

Maggie swatted Alex's hand when she moved to pull the hot dog off of the stick with her bare hand, handing her a bun to wrap around it first instead. 

They filled up their plates, putting the macaroni salad and condiments back in the cooler after they were done with them. 

Alex looked around for Gertrude, who they had let off of her leash, and saw her rolling in some leaves happily just outside the light of the fire. 

“Gertrude,” Alex called, “dinner time!” 

Gertrude immediately flipped over and jumped up. She trotted towards the fire while Alex pulled a bag of dog food out and poured some into a bowl. Gertrude sniffed at the hot dog on Alex's plate for just a moment before digging into her own food. Alex and Maggie sat back and began eating as well. 

“This salad is really good,” Maggie complimented through her first bite. 

Alex smiled. “Thanks. It's my mom's recipe. She makes it every Fourth of July.” 

“Well it’s delicious.”

They ate in silence, listening to the fire crackle and thinking quietly. Once they were both done, Alex cleaned up everything. She threw the garbage bag filled with their trash into the back of the car so as not to attract animals, then returned to her seat by the fire.

“So,” Maggie prompted after a few more moments of silence. “What do you think of camping so far?”

Alex hummed and turned her head to look at Maggie. “I’m not totally convinced yet, but anywhere I go with you is never terrible.”

“Awww, are you getting soft on me?”

Alex blushed. “Maggie,” she whined. “We’re married. When are you going to stop teasing me about that?”

Maggie leaned over and kissed Alex on the cheek. “Never, Danvers. Get used to it.”

Alex pretended to huff but couldn’t hide her smile. She reached over and threaded her fingers through Maggie's. 

 

* * *

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, they decided to take a hike along one of the trails that started near the campground. 

The trail was empty except for them so they decided to let Gertrude off of her leash, knowing that she wouldn't wander far. She led the way, crossing back and forth in front of them as they walked, never straying more than a few meters into the woods on either side of the trail. 

“She likes the woods,” Maggie observed, nodding toward Gertrude. 

Alex hummed and slipped her hand out of Maggie's, opting instead to link arms with her wife. 

“I think I do too.” 

Maggie glanced at Alex and smiled. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah. It’s nice. I’m not a huge fan of sleeping on the ground, but you make a pretty decent pillow so it’s not all bad.”

Maggie just laughed. 

They walked on in silence for a few minutes until suddenly they heard Gertrude, who had wandered into the trees to their right, yelp loudly. 

Alex and Maggie unlinked their arms and Alex jogged forward a few steps, looking through the trees. 

“Gertrude? Gertrude come!” 

There was silence for a moment then Gertrude yelped again and whined. 

Alex looked back toward Maggie, who had paused where they stopped and looked worried. 

“She sounds hurt, Alex,” Maggie said, sounding worried. 

Alex nodded, and stepped back over to hand Maggie Gertrude’s leash. 

“It sounds like she's over there,” Alex pointed through the trees. A large fallen tree blocked the view. Stay here. I'll go find her. 

Alex stepped into the trees, pushing her way past low branches. Maggie watched her anxiously until she jumped over the fallen tree and disappeared. 

Maggie heard Alex's muffled voice, then Gertrude whining again. She shifted up onto her toes, hoping to catch a glimpse of her wife and dog. 

A few moments later, Alex appeared again around the log, carrying Gertrude in her arms. She walked slowly carefully peeking around Gertrude before she took each step. 

When they reached the path again, Alex set Gertrude down. Gertrude sat with her left front paw held up above the ground. 

Maggie knelt down in front of Gertrude and pet her back carefully. She pulled a treat out of her jacket pocket and gave it to Gertrude, who took it hesitantly. 

“She hurt her paw?” Maggie asked, eyeing the paw that Gertrude was favoring. 

Alex nodded, catching her breath. “It looks like she tried to climb over that tree and landed badly. I don't think it's broken, just badly sprained. She's not going to be able to walk on it very easily for a while.”

Maggie frowned. “We should head back then. Can you carry her?” 

Alex nodded again. “Yeah. It's not far back to the campsite. Just give me a second.”

Alex stretched then leaned down to lift Gertrude I to her arms again. 

“Alright, girl, let's get you back.” Gertrude’s tail twitched and she squirmed a bit in Alex's arms as the agent stood. 

Maggie led the way back down the trail towards the campground, watching Alex for any signs that she needed to take a break and have Maggie carry Gertrude for a while. 

They made it back without incident, and Alex set Gertrude down next to the fire pit.

“We should probably head back home,” Maggie suggested. “I know you said it's just a sprain but we should probably have the vet take a look.” 

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “I'll pack up the bags if you want to start getting the tent down.” 

They got to work tearing down the campsite, working quietly. Gertrude watched them, moping from where she was lying on the ground. 

When everything was back in the car, Maggie helped Gertrude get I to the back seat and made sure she was settled before getting into the driver's seat. 

As they pulled out onto the highway, Alex reached over and rested a hand on Maggie's on the center console. “I'm sorry our camping trip got cut short.” 

Maggie shook her head and smiled. “Its OK. We'll have other weekends away. I'm just glad Gertie wasn't hurt worse.”

Upon hearing her nickname, Gertrude hobbled forward and rested her head next to their linked hands on the console. She pouted until Alex glanced down at her and moved her hand from Maggie's to pet her head. 

“It's OK, Gertie. We'll get you home and get you feeling better in no time.” 

Maggie blinked, then stifled a smirk at hearing her wife use the nickname she so often ridiculed. 


	6. Interlude - Gertrude Goes Camping

The vet confirmed that Gertrude did indeed have a small fracture. She had to wear a cast for six weeks. 

During the first few weeks Gertrude was all but confined to her bed, unable to walk around much besides going for short walks to go to the bathroom without yelping in pain even with the cast. During this time she moped and became so depressed that Maggie and Alex began taking turns lifting her up onto the sofa so she could cuddle with them in the evenings. They would pet her and play a less enthusiastic version of tug of war with her until her tail began wagging again. 

She also got far more treats than usual during this time, which eventually led to Winn giving her the affectionate nickname ‘Princess Gertrude’. Gertrude seemed to like this nickname and during this time Gertrude finally stopped growing at Winn every time he tried to pet her.

For the last few weeks of her recovery, Gertrude was able to hobble around the apartment more easily. Her mood began to improve when she was able to play with Krypto again, chasing him around the apartment at almost her former speed. 

On the day that Gertrude got her cast off, the Superfriends met at the dog park afterwards for a celebration play date. Even Barry and Iris came from Earth One, with their adopted greyhound named Speedy (Thea Queen was not amused by this at first but now she and Speedy are best friends). James bought Gertrude a giant bucket of tennis balls (which, it was decided, she would split with Krypto and Speedy) which all the dogs had a blast chasing back and forth across the park. By the end of the afternoon, all the dogs were exhausted, and they all fell asleep in a pile at Kara's apartment where the group retired for a dinner and game night. 


	7. Krypto and the Kryptonite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How they learned that Krypto has a very special nose.

Alex and Kara were taking Gertrude and Krypto to the dog park for a play date over lunch one day when an anti-alien group launched an attack on a community center that served the alien population of National City. The center was across the street from the park, so Alex and Kara immediately noticed when the attack began. 

Kara paused only long enough for Alex to grab Krypto’s leash out of her and and yell at her to “Go!” before she ran off looking for a place to change into her super suit.

Alex watched Kara run off and pulled out her phone and dialed the DEO.

“Winn-”

“Alex. I was just about to call you. There's a-” 

“attack at the community center,” Alex interrupted. “Yeah, I know. Kara and I were across the street at the park when it started. She’s jumping in now but I’ve got the dogs so I won’t exactly be able to provide backup.”

“I’ll tell J’onn,” Winn responded. “It should be easy enough anyway. It looks like a pretty standard hate crime attack. Aaand I regret even saying that sentence.”

“I know what you mean, Winn,” Alex said. “Humans are an easier job for Supergirl than aliens or metahumans.”

“Yeah. Hey, I have to go.”

“Ok.”

Alex walked the dogs as close to the edge of the park closest to the center as she dared. She watched Kara land in front of the building and begin fighting the attackers. She frowned, frustrated that she couldn’t rush in to help, but she didn’t dare leave Gertrude and Krypto unattended. 

When they reached the edge of the park Krypto immediately began tugging and pulling at his leash, trying to pull Alex towards Kara. Alex jerked his leash a bit and scolded him. 

“Krypto, stay. She’s busy right now. She doesn’t need you getting in the way.”

“Good girl, Gertrude,” she added as a last minute thought, patting the German Shepherd’s back fondly.

Alex looked back up and across the street in time to see Supergirl take a punch from one of the men she was fighting. Alex’s anxiety rose as she saw that the man was not only able to land a hit on the superhero, but that the punch seemed to actually affect Supergirl. 

Supergirl staggered backward and shook her head as if she was confused. She surged back towards the man but stumbled and fell to her knees halfway to him.

“No,” Alex whispered to herself. “Kara, what?”

Alex reached to pull her phone back out to call Winn back, but Krypto chose that exact moment to lunge forward with all his strength. Alex lost her footing and was pulled forward out of the park and to the curb. Krypto stopped at the curb and immediately began barking and growling at one of the bystanders who was standing on the sidewalk watching the fight.

“Krypto, no!” Alex pulled at the dog’s leash, trying to get him to leave the man alone. But before she could get him under control Krypto jumped up and bit the man’s arm. 

The man swore and dropped the bag he had been holding. Alex opened her mouth to apologize to the man but before she could she noticed something with a familiar green glow fall out of the bag he had dropped. She recognized it immediately as Kryptonite and moved into action. She dropped both dog’s leashes, trusting Gertrude to stay close and Krypto to continue attacking the man. She then swung a fierce punch at the man’s head, knocking him backwards into a street lamp. The impact knocked the man unconscious and he fell to the ground in a heap. 

Alex was relieved to see several DEO SUV’s pull up at that exact moment. Agents poured out of them, most going to help Supergirl subdue the last attacker. A few others made their way over to Alex and the unconscious man.

“Ma’am?” One of the agents greeted.

Alex pointed at the man and then the Kryptonite which Krypto was now growling at since the man was no longer conscious. “Secure that immediately and take him into custody. I want him in an interrogation room as soon as he’s conscious and cleared by medical as not having any life threatening injuries.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The agents moved into action.

Alex watched from a distance as Kara, still weak from the Kryptonite, was helped into one of the cars. The hero looked shaken but didn’t look like she had been wounded. 

Alex nodded to the agent closest to her then gathered Gertrude and Krypto’s leashes again and pulled the two dogs into a fast walk away from the growing crowd and towards her apartment, which was only a block away. She pulled out her phone as she walked and dialed Maggie’s number. Luckily, the Detective picked up.

“Alex, we got the alert that there was an attack. Is everyone ok?”

“I just left the scene. I don’t think anyone was hurt but they had Kryptonite. Supergirl looked pretty weak when I left.”

“You left the scene after K- Supergirl was hit with Kryptonite?” Maggie was extremely confused.

“Yeah, I know.” Alex interrupted Maggie’s next thought. “I didn't want to but Kara and I were taking the dogs to the park when it all started. I had to stay with them. The DEO showed up though and helped get everything secured. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to leave Krypto at our apartment with Gertrude while I go check on Kara.”

“Ok,” Maggie agreed. “Text me when you know how she is, ok?”

“Will do. I love you.”

“Love you.”

Alex hung up just as she reached the apartment door. She quickly led the two dogs inside and took off their leashes.

“Alright you two. I have to go check on Kara,” Krypto barked at his owner’s name, “Yes, Krypto. I’m going to see Kara. And you were a very good boy today helping me find that bad guy. Yes you were. And you too Gertie; staying when I dropped your leash. You’re both so good. So you two are going to stay here and behave, ok? Good.” 

Alex grabbed a couple of treats from the treat jar and tossed one to each of the dogs. Then she pulled the door shut behind her again and jogged to the elevator.

When Alex finally arrived at the DEO Kara was squirming uncomfortably under the yellow sun lamps they kept for incidents like this. Her eyes were shut but she was pouting and looked very uncomfortable.

“Hey, Kar,” Alex greeted softly so as not to startle Kara in case the kryptonian had blown out her powers and not heard her coming.

Her greeting was rewarded with a much deeper pout and a whine of “Alex, will you tell them I’m fine and I should just go home and rest?”

“First of all,” Alex said in her best big sister voice, “I just got here and haven’t talked to anyone so I don’t even know if that’s true.”

Kara huffed.

“And second of all, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that guy knock you down so please just stay under the lamps for a few more minutes until the doctor’s say you can go home.”

Kara huffed again, but squeezed the hand that Alex put in her own. 

“I hate these stupid lamps. I hate stupid Kryptonite.”

“I know you do. How about this. If you stay under the lamps until the doc gives you the all clear, we can have a movie night tonight.”

“That’s bribery,” Kara pointed out and squinted open her eyes to look at Alex.

Alex smiled down at her. “Yes, it is. But it’s going to work, right?”

Kara relaxed back onto the bed. “Yes. It’s going to work.” Kara had a thought and perked back up or a moment. “Alex, are Krypto and Gertrude alright?”

“They’re fine. They’re at my apartment. In fact, Krypto is the reason I identified the guy standing across the street holding the Kryptonite. That dog has either the best nose in the world or he has some kind of sixth sense about people because he dragged me straight to the guy and knocked the kryptonite right out of his hands.”

“Huh,” Kara mused. “Well I always knew he is an amazing dog.”

Just then the doctor walked into the room holding a tablet. “Supergirl, your vitals are back up to acceptable levels. I’d prefer that you stay under the lamp for another hour but I know that you’re not fond of it so if you promise to take it easy you can go.”

He had barely finished speaking before Kara was sitting up and jumping down from the bed. 

“Thanks, Doc.” She grabbed Alex’s arm. “Come on, Alex. Let’s go.”

Alex shrugged an apology to the doctor as her superstrong sister pulled her from the room and towards the locker room where Kara kept a change of civilian clothes. Kara changed quickly while Alex texted Maggie to let her know that Kara was okay and would be joining them for dinner.

“Maggie is going to beat us home,” Alex told Kara when she read Maggie’s reply. “She said she’ll pick up dinner. We just need to let her know what. What do you feel like?”

“Hmmmm,” Kara mused as she did the clasp on her belt. “Chinese?”

“Works for me. Pot stickers?”

Kara tilted her head and gave Alex a look.

“Alright, alright. Silly me. I’ll tell Maggie to order extra.”

 

When they walked in the door, they were greeted by the smell of fresh Chinese food, and by two very excited dogs. Kara dropped to her knees as soon as she was out of the doorway and caught Krypto, who jumped into her arms. He methodically checked her over as if worried that she was hurt, then licked her ear once he was satisfied that she was okay. 

Alex leaned down to pet Gertrude, who came to greet her more calmly than Krypto. Then she walked into the kitchen where Maggie was pulling plates out of the cupboard.

“Hey you,” Alex greeted, leaning on the island.

Maggie set down the plates and walked over to her wife. “Hey yourself.” She leaned in halfway and Alex met her for a kiss. “You ok?”

Alex nodded. “Now that I’m home with both of you.”

Maggie squeezed Alex’s arm, before looking over her shoulder to her sister in law. “And you, Kara? You ok?”

Kara looked up from Krypto. “Yeah. I’m ok.”

When Maggie and Alex continued looking at her silently, Kara stood. She walked over to were Alex and Maggie were standing and pulled them both into a hug. 

“I’m ok. I promise.”

Maggie squeezed the younger Danvers. “I never had a kid sister before you, Kara. I don’t know how Alex is still alive after all these years. Worrying about you all the time. It’s so stressful.” She chuckled as she finished speaking.

“You just need to have really good blood pressure,” Alex joked. Krypto barked from at their feet.

“Oh yes. And puppies,” Alex confirmed. “Puppies help a lot.”

Maggie stepped back and clapped her hands together once. “Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot. I heard about what Krypto did today. A uniformed officer saw it all go down and everyone at the station was talking about it. Taking down that guy with the Kryptonite almost single handed.”

“Single paw-ded!” Kara corrected with a laugh.

“Well,” Maggie declared, backing up some more until she was next to the opposite counter where a little bag was waiting. “Since Krypto was  _ such  _ a hero today, I thought he deserved a present.”

At the ‘p’ word Kara immediately bounced with excitement. Alex raised an eyebrow.

“I hope you got a present for Gertrude too, Maggie,” Alex tilted her head to where Gertrude was watching them from her doggie bed.

“Yes,” Maggie nodded. “Gertie got a new toy but she’s already opened it. And she was nice enough to share with her little brother while we were waiting for you two to come home. This,” she said waving the bag with a flourish, “is all for Krypto.” 

Maggie handed the bag to Kara, who quickly opened it and pulled own a Krypto sized red cape with the House of El crest on it. 

Kara gasped. “Maggie!”

Krypto came forward, curious, and sniffed the cape in Kara’s hands.

“A hero needs a cape,” Maggie explained. “I haven’t talked Alex into wearing one yet, but I have a feeling Krypto will enjoy his.”

Alex blushed when Maggie winked at her, but luckily Kara was too busy giggling and fixing the cape to Krypto’s collar to notice. As soon as it was secure, Krypto took off. He ran circles around the island excitedly. The cape fluttered behind him. After a few rounds, he paused in front of Gertrude’s bed and goaded her into getting up to play. They chased each other around the apartment as Kara pulled Maggie into a hug.

“He loves it! And I love it. Thank you, Maggie.”

“You're welcome, Kara. Now, should we eat while the food is still warm?”

Alex and Kara shouted at the same time, “Dinner!” And both dogs immediately stopped playing and ran for the table. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one doesn't have an 'interlude' pairing because I don't have enough extra stuff/headcanons to put into one. Stay tuned for more Gertrude next time ;)


	8. Gertrude's Blanket

“Alex, have you seen my jacket?”

Alex stuck her head out of the bathroom and pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth. “Which one?”

“My work one,” Maggie replied, clearly frustrated. “The windbreaker. I know I wore it home last night but now I can’t find it anywhere.”

Alex shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve seen it this morning. Sorry.” She ducked back into the bathroom to spit and rinse her mouth out. Then walked back out of the bathroom.

Maggie was now pulling cushions off of the couch on the off chance that her jacket had ended up under one of them. She was muttering and cursing under her breath as she searched.

“Hey, whoa,” Alex raised both of her hands and reached out to touch Maggie’s shoulder gently. “Slow down, Mags. This apartment isn’t that big. It can’t have gone far. Let’s just take it one room at a time. We’ll find it.”

Maggie took a deep breath and turned. She leaned into her wife, resting her forehead on Alex’s chest. “I don’t even need it until tomorrow. I don’t know why I’m so frustrated.”

Alex kissed her top of her wife’s head. “We’ll find it. You said you know you wore it home last night, right?”

Maggie nodded against Alex, then stepped back. “Yes. I know I wore it home from the precinct, and I swear I remember hanging it next to the door.”

Alex glanced towards the door. Only her own leather jacket was hanging there. 

“Ok, well you got home before me last night so I don’t remember seeing you wearing it. Is it possible you left it in your car?”

Maggie shrugged. “Maybe… I haven’t checked there yet.”

“Why don’t you go check there. I’ll start checking around the apartment. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe it fell off the hook when I got home and maybe I moved it somewhere and forgot.”

“Ok. I'll check the car. Text me if you find it before I get back?”

“Of course.”

Maggie walked out the door with just her phone and car keys and Alex started searching the apartment. She checked the laundry room next to the front door first, in case she’d thrown the jacket in there to be washed. But it wasn’t in any of the piles of dirty clothes she checked. 

Alex walked back out into the apartment and looked around. She saw Gertrude watching her from her bed. 

“Any ideas, Gertrude?”

Gertrude huffed but stayed where she was. Alex walked over and knelt down to pet her head. She glanced down, noticed a familiar looking sleeve sticking out from underneath Gertrude and laughed.

“Oh my god, Gertrude. You’re going to be in so much trouble when Maggie finds out you’ve had it this whole time.”

Alex pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of Gertrude laying on Maggie’s NCPD windbreaker and texted it to maggie with the caption ‘ _ Found it. It was stolen by this little thief who decided it would make a good blanket.’ _

When Maggie came back through the apartment door, Alex was sitting on the floor next to Gertrude’s bed trying to negotiate with the dog, who was refusing to get up and relinquish the jacket.

“Come on, Gertie,” Alex was saying while tugging on the loose sleeve of the jacket. “What do you want? I’ll give you anything you want. If you give it back before Maggie gets back I’ll give you a cook- Oh, uh oh. She’s back. Now you’re in trouble.”

Maggie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Alex, are you trying to use hostage negotiation tactics on our dog?”

“She’s being very stubborn,” Alex retorted.

“Gertrude, come,” Maggie commanded.

Gertrude stood and walked over to Maggie, sitting in front of her. As soon as she was away from her bed, Alex snatched up Maggie’s jacket and shook it.

“If it didn’t need a wash before, it does now. It’s covered in dog hair.”

Gertrude looked over her shoulder then walked back over to Alex. She sniffed at the jacket and wagged her tail. She pawed at Alex’s leg as if asking for the jacket back.

“Gertrude, no. Bad girl,” Maggie scolded.

Gertrude looked at Maggie and hung her head.

Alex pouted. “Awww, Mags, did you have to yell at her? She looks so sad.”

“She needs to learn that she can’t take whatever she wants,” Maggie sighed. “If she wants a blanket, we can get her one. But my work jacket is  _ not  _ a blanket.”

Alex perked up. “Oh! Don’t they sell NCPD stadium blankets?”

“What,” Maggie asked, baffled.

Alex snapped her fingers and nodded. “At the last NCPD fundraiser, the one for the at-risk kids intervention programs, they were selling stadium blankets with the NCPD logo on them in with the shirts and other stuff they were selling. You know, the blanket that has kind of windbreaker material on one side and is soft on the other?”

Maggie just shook her head. “I don’t understand, Alex. We could just go to the pet store and get a blanket there.”

“Yes but she took your jacket for a reason Maggie,” Alex explained. “She likes it. It probably reminds her of you.” By the end of the last sentence Alex was giving Maggie a full powered Danvers pout.

Maggie couldn’t help but laugh. “You two are going to be the death of me. Ok, fine. Put away the pout, Danvers. I’ll find out who is handling the fundraising merchandise sales tomorrow and I’ll buy Gertie her own NCPD stadium blanket.

Alex skipped forward and kissed Maggie on the cheek. “Thank you, Maggie. I love you.”

“Yeah yeah. I love you too, you softie. Now do me a favor and go throw that in the wash. It looks like it’s covered in both dog hair  _ and  _ dog drool.”

As Alex took the jacket to the laundry room, Maggie knelt down and opened her arms to Gertrude. “C’mere, you. You are forgiven.”

Gertrude bounded into her arms for a hug and knocked Maggie over in her excitement. With Maggie fully on the floor, Gertrude took the opportunity to tackle her and lick her face while Maggie laughed.

Alex came back out of the laundry room, saw her wife and dog on the floor, and immediately jumped down beside them.

“Cuddle pile!” Alex shouted as she knocked Gertrude off of Maggie and peppered Maggie’s face with her own kisses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last one I have written. I hope this wont be the end but I recently adopted a puppy of my own so my free time has suddenly become more limited. Hopefully I'll find time over the holidays to write another chapter or two.


End file.
